The FSIN Executive wants the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops to make sure the July Papal Visit includes a grave site visit at a Saskatchewan Indian Residential School. The Pope’s schedule hasn’t been finalized yet, but some of the possible locations reported to date are Edmonton, Quebec City and Iqaluit.

The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations says Saskatchewan has one of the highest numbers of Indian Residential Schools in the country, with 22, and at least half were run by the Catholic Church. In a news release, the FSIN says the students were sexually, physically and mentally abused and the damage continued in the Indian Day School regime. With over 100,000 Indian Residential School Survivors and intergenerational survivors in Saskatchewan, the Executive believes the Pope owes everyone affected an apology on their own Treaty territory.

FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron says, “The Pope needs to visit one of our First Nations in Saskatchewan to witness for himself the reality we are facing today and the work our First Nations are conducting in finding the unmarked graves of hundreds of our children. Pope Francis and the Church must bear witness to the devastation brought on by the Church in our Treaty territory.”